1 Avoiding concealed services and overhead power lines: What you need to know as a busy builder Health and Safety Executive Don’t let your building project strike the wrong note. Protect people on your site by following these essential health and safety tips. n Before excavation starts, consult the utilities suppliers/site owner about buried gas pipes or electrical cables. Get hold of service plans. n To l oca te b uri ed s erv ice s us e c abl e avoidance tools (CATs) and service plans. Mark their route with paint or wooden pegs. n Don’t use mechanical excavators or power tools within 0.5m of the suspected route. n Take care using power tools to break through paved surfaces above gas pipes and cable routes. n Work well away from any overhead power lines when handling long items like scaffold poles, or using lifting equipment and MEWPs. n Or, arrange with the electricity supplier for overhead power lines to be shrouded (covered), or made dead or rerouted. n Plant working near overhead power lines should not approach closer than: - 15m (plus length of jib) if the line is suspended from steel towers; or - 9m (plus length of jib) if the line is supported on wooden poles. n If unsure where concealed cables are, turn the electricity supply off before drilling into walls etc. What can happen if health and safety is ignored? Two experienced ground workers used a pneumatic breaker to dig a shallow trench in a pavement. No services were marked and they hit an 11KV cable. One suffered minor burns and the other serious burns needing trea tment in intensive care. Three 11KV cable s, two other electricity cables and a gas main were all located beneath the pavement. The construction firm was fined £13 000 and paid £3870 costs. See over for examples of good and bad practice …